Batting

FORT MYERS, Fla.– The Rockford College baseball team was looking to snap its current three game skid when it took on the Fighting Scots of Monmouth College on Thursday morning. Rockford entered the game with a 1-3 record while Monmouth came in with a 1-4 mark.

The Fighting Scots got on the board first with a four spot in the third inning. Monmouth used a pair of 2-run home runs to build itself an early 4-0 lead. Rockford gave up two more runs in the top of the fifth digging itself an early 6-0 hole.

Rockford left fielder Matt Grimes (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) got the rally started with a two-out single into center field. After a crucial Monmouth error, senior Daryn Streed (Belivdere, Ill./North) made the Fighting Scots pay with a 2-run double into deep left-center field. Scott Swiderek (Chicago, Ill./Walter Lutheran) followed with a double of his own to make it a 6-3 Monmouth lead. Catcher Terry Wiltshire (Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge) capped off the inning with an RBI single through the right side cutting the Monmouth advantage to just 6-4.

After Monmouth added a pair of runs in the sixth, the Regents tied it up with its second 4-run inning of the game in the bottom of the seventh. Junior second baseman Bryan Grabowski (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) started the inning with a single into left field. After a walk and a wild pitch, Wiltshire drove in his second run of the game on a fielder's choice to the second baseman. With runners on first and second freshman Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill./Lena-Winslow)stepped up to the plate and delivered a mammoth shot over the left-center field wall tying the game at 8-8.

The Regents put up fight in the ninth after giving up a total of four runs in the eighth and ninth to fall behind 12-8. Streed led off the inning with a single into center field and Swiderek followed crushing a double down the right field line to put runners on second and third with no outs. After a sacrifice fly, Logemann laced a double into left center get the Regents within two runs. However, that was as close as Rockford would get as the Regents were unable to plate any more runs and fell 12-8.

The middle of the Rockford order did the majority of the damage on Thursday led by freshman Cole Logemann who had yet another excellent game at the plate. The freshman was 3-4 with a walk, double, home run and four runs batted in to raise his season average to .563. For the season Logemann is slugging a blistering 1.000, a .632 on-base percentage with 4 doubles, 1 home run and 5 runs batted in. Wiltshire continued his hot hitting with a 3-4 performance raising his season average to .385. Streed had another nice day at the plate going 2-5 with a pair of runs scored and two runs batted in. Swiderek had his best game at the plate so far this season going 3-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and a run batted in.

Rockford returns to the diamond on Friday, March 15th with games against Bethel and Olivet. The Regents play Bethel first at 10 a.m. EST followed by the game against Olivet at approximately 1 p.m. EST.